Ioptron 45 V2

[alan potts]

I am thinking seriously about getting one of these mounts I do not like the mount I have and if I am honest it is not really big enough for my 190mm M/N. Even though I have a SW catalogue with a picture on the front showing to two together the HEQ5 Pro stuggles even when well balanced

Asking for thoughts from owners of 45 V2 or people that have used them.

Alan

[alan potts]

Clearly not that popular.

Alan.

[Dunkster]

Like the look of those, for my C11, supposed to be quite a bit lighter than my NEQ6... but also a lot more expensive than the NEQ6, which is probably the clincher for most

[Jessun]

Well, as you know Alan, I have one for sale so I would be tempted to give it a glorious review here ... But I'll mention a few good bits and bad bits:

Good:

Portability. It's light at around 11 kgs. The GPS works very well - even just by a window sometimes. It will take care of position and the critical time input.

Build. The weight is where it should be. Big RA and Dec gear, a very solid CW bar. The tripod is beefy and stable. All bolts have hex key center so tightening/loosening is always easy even in the cold with gloves on.

Alignment. The PA routine is brilliant and shows a picture on the handset of the polar scope, marking the position of Polaris. You don't have to see any other stars. The reticule has a few circles and hour markings all around to make it easy to place Polaris where it should be. The rotating reticule has a bubble level on it to align it, so no need to fiddle too much to get the tripod level (The mount has its own second bubble for this btw). A one, two or three star alignment can then be done with ease, and you can get feedback how far off your PA is. (Never used this so can't give more precise info).

Pointing accuracy. The first star is always on the chip when starting from park, and remains good throughout.

Handset. Big display, built in red LED flash light, simple meny system. You can always 'sync to target' by centering a star or object to update your pointing.

Park. Park to a few preset positions or park at present position.

Saddle plate. The included Losmandy plate is very good and needs no upgrade. The vixen one is also sturdy and has two big bolts to secure a dovetail bar.

Design. It's modular and all parts are easy to access and service/exchange if need be.

Latitude adjustment. A very good design for easy lat setting, locked down with four bolts - again with the hex core. No bent bolts Skywatcher style.

Neutral:

Software bugs have been found, but are quickly corrected by iOptron. (Handset and mount firmware can be updated). The balancing software routine is a hit and miss.

Bad: (Revisiting some parts above)

Build. On closer inspection the paint job is done in a hurry, and some bolts - most notably the AZ adjustment bolts almost seem to have the wrong thread. The tripod leg spreader is of poor design, almost looks like it's meant for a different tripod.

Handset. The buttons have no defined 'click' and are very hard. (You can set the handset to beep though). Big gloves on? Tricky perhaps.

Tracking. The mount uses belt drive, and to me it seems like it all needs adjustments done from out of the box. Nothing appears to have been tweaked in the factory. Backlash may have to be adjusted, and some users successfully install little belt tensioners to improve accuracy, and the difference this makes is noticable. (An aftermarket worm is also available).

Stability. I must say that it is more sensitive to wind than I'd have hoped. At least at 1.6m FL that I use. Maybe I'm asking too much.

Conclusion: The iOptron iEQ45 in my mind is a very good 'field mount' due to it's light weight and clever setup but it could use a good few tweaks to refine it. The corners cut to keep the costs down are obvious. For imaging I'd keep the FL to around the metre mark. Decent wind shielding becomes necessary for larger scopes.

/Jesper

[ollypenrice]

For an MN190, NO!!!I It is not a mount which handles long OTAs at all well. In an attempt to reduce backlash iOptron opted for spring loading the motors and worms into mesh. The moments generated by long OTAs specialise in springing them out of mesh leaving long tubes going Boiing Boiing Boiing... I have tried our TEC140 (a minnow next to an Mn190) on the iOptron and it won't even handle it for visual.

For the rest I agree with Jesper wholeheartedly. I just want to add my belief that this is a mount for physically short OTAs and certainly not for long ones with huge chunks of glass at both ends.

Olly

[Dunkster]

Wow... 11kg?!? Including the tripod? The NEQ6 is the back breaking part of my setup

[alan potts]

It is looking like back to the drawing board. I was looking at this because I don't like my mount and to get a NEQ 6 is well stupid If I don't like the Pro 5 version. I could save myself money getting the NEQ 6 as I already have the handset which I could swap over, when I bought the Pro 5 i got the none Goto version then like an idiot up graded. It is the handset I dislike the most and the fact that it is underweight for the M/N 190. It makes me wonder why they show it on a HEQ 5 on a catalogue I have.

Olly, thanks for the frank and to the point review.

Jestper, Very honest and well put, it would be worth putting this into reviews as it is so well done and will no doubt be of use to people in the future.

Alan.

[Jessun]

Hi Alan, well a review is just a fancy name for someone's view. As I can't produce PEC curves and other clever stuff I think the tread is fine where it is .

Here's a link to the aftermarket worm btw:

http://www.m42optic.fr/pro/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=741

And the excellent TDM: (available for many other models too)

http://www.mda-telescoop.com/

It's a good piece of kit, no doubt about that, but big FL scopes don't match well with it. The handset is miles better than the SW ones - well the display is better than any handset I've seen. It's just a pain to press the buttons .

Dunkster, no the ~11 kgs is the mount head only

/Jesper

[ollypenrice]

I like a lot of the software on the iOptron as well but the buttons hurt my arthritis - which I didn't know I had! The GoTo is brilliant, the memory at Park is stunningly accurate, the Polar Alignment routine is very good.

It's this spring loaded drive that leaves me unconvinced. I also feel that the worm and wheel are not well protected from contaminants. You can actually see the worm if you pull back the spring loaed drives.

I simply cannot believe that the NEQ6 hasn't been knocked off its perch yet. It is high time that someone did better. Just a delux NEQ6 made to finer tolerances and costing twice as much would find a ready market. The Tak EM200 sells at five times the price. Somewhere between the two there has to be a market but people just don't seem to be able to get it right. Vixen have faffed around to no useful effect. The NEQ6 is big enough for thousands of imagers, it just isn't accurate enough or consistent enough. I'd pay £2K for a really good NEQ6 and be delighted.

I wonder what happened to the GEM from Astrotrac?

Olly

[Dunkster]

Thanks Jesper I live in eternal hope of the lightweight mount for a heavyweight

[Jessun]

Just a delux NEQ6

How does the AZ-EQ6 slot in? At 1800 euros, with a few nice looking features it has made a very quiet entry on the scene.

I think with some TLC, tweaking, and the odd add-on the iOptron is a winner in the range. (One reason for not glorifying it even with one on sale is that I'd like to put a reduced ED80 or something like that on it and see what it may reveal. So I don't mind keeping it for longer !)

/Jesper

PS I keep learning the names of many German towns, like Ditzingen and Kirchheim, tracking 67 kgs worth of AP1600 shipments ...

[hypnotoad]

Hi

I have been considering this mount, but the comments made by Jessum are worth considering,

hypnotoad

[Jessun]

Haha, and I'm the one trying to flog one like snake oil !!

Honesty goes a long way I think.

/Jesper

[Davey-T]

I have one of these mounts and can only agree with Jessun. I purchased it solely as a portable setup for use with a 100mm f/6 refactor and EOS camera, it copes with this setup admirably

I have the head in a Pelicase and leave it set to dec so not much adjustment is necessary when I set up, the polar alignment and GPS are great, though the GPS can take it's time.

All "cheap" mounts benefit from rebuilding properly and a few mod's have been published for this mount.

But it's not suited to big, long or heavy scopes.

Dave